best size rear tires for my centerlines?

[Donniedee]

scored a new in the box set of satin old school centerline wheels for my 67 Camaro build there 15x8.5 whats a good size rear tire to run on these? tried running 15x10 they stuck out too much

[markinnaples]

Not sure what look you're going for, but I have the 15x10's with 295/50's on my '68 Camaro now, and I just don't care for the short treadwall of those tires. I'll definitely be going with a set of 15x8's with 275/60's in the future. With the manual steering and manual drum brakes, I need all the help radial tires can give me, so no plans for bias plys anytime soon.

[Lynn]

I have 255 60 15 on 15x8.5 Centerlines on the rear of my Z. I tried 275 60 15, and they did not hit the fender sitting still, but were way to close to risk driving. Pretty sure I would have burned some paint the first time I went around a corner.

Can post a pic tonight if it would help.

No rubbing. Stock wheel wells, no rolling of the lip.

[markinnaples]

Yes, good point Lynn. I have a 3/4" spacer on my rear 15x10 & 295/50 Cragars; the tires were kind of close as Lynn states and may not have rubbed but my rear wheel wells are painted and pin striped so I didn't want to take any chances. I'll probably leave them in place when I get the 15x8's as well just to be safe.

[NorCam]

I have 255 60 15 on 15x8.5 Centerlines on the rear of my Z.

Lynn...what backspace are your rear 8.5's if I may ask?

[Lynn]

Sure.
I think 4.5, or something very close to it. I remember spending a lot of time getting what I wanted. Most of the off the shelf centerlines available were less than 4.

The YH ralley wheel is about 4.25 and is only 7 inches wide. To get the outer lip completely inside the wheel well, you have to have something over 4.25.

SOME 275 tires might fit. I wouldn't corner hard though. I had purchased a KILLER looking set of 275 Hoosiers from Eric at a very fair price, but was too scared of burning the paint. Probably would be OK for straight line. Sold them to remove the temptation. Didn't make any $$ on them, but they went to a good home. Of course a couple years later, I put some vintage Centerlines on my 68 El Camino, and 275's on a 15x10 fit great on that car.

You can see in one of these pics how close the wheel comes to the lower shock mount.

[NorCam]

Outstanding! (and I should add that I love that 10/10 car Lynn)

I just picked up a set of 8.5 Auto Drags with the 4-7/8" B/S which is likely what yours would be also. I'm going to run pizza cutters on 3.5" up front and will be ordering a set of Pro Tracs for it today. Going to try the 275/60/15's on the back with the 560-15's on the fronts. It'll likely be getting a set of Hurst air shocks as I can always add a little rake to help with clearance since I'm going for that Day II look.

Thanks for your pics and the reply Lynn...and sorry if I sidetracked the thread. I had to ask. :)

[Lynn]

You are probably correct on the 4-7/8. I know it is really close to the shock mount. In fact, I have since put on a pair of traction bars (got tired of spinning the tires so easily), and had to bend the shock mount on one of the lower plates to get it to clear.

[NorCam]

Had a little luck today and scored another set of center line wheels for a future project car I want to build my oldest boy. Saw an ad on Kijiji (like Craigslist) last night and drove 2 hours today to score a set of (4) 15 x 7 polished auto drags with original caps for less than one new wheel would cost. Gotta buy these wheels up knowing that Centerline closed their doors in April. Might be harder to find down the road. :)

[JRC99]

Were the Pro Trac Street Pros around back in the day? I know they look like Scat-Tracs.

Sorry to hijack, but since it came up, I figured I'd ask.

[NorCam]

Pro Tracs were around in the mid 70's but I'm not sure exactly when they came out? I used to see a lot of them in the late 70's and the other premium street tires of that era were the original M&H Racemaster and McCreary's. They were the shiznit back then and all of them had N50/15 and/or L60/15 bias ply street tires.

Maybe someone can chime in that knows exactly when they started making them? Here's a shot of an original pair of Pro Tracs

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/cQ8AAOSwMmBVgZ0Z/s-l1600.jpg

Earliest ad I could find looks like early 70's perhaps

http://fastmusclecar.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Pro-Trac-Tires-657456.jpg

[JRC99]

I meant the Street Pros specifically. I know that style was around then, but the other style seems to be a newer one.

[NorCam]

Coker Tire has only been making them for a few years now. The style is slightly different as is the wording on the sidewall. I'm sure that's done either due to licensing and/or copyright, or perhaps so that they don't have to pay royalties etc.

Even with the slightly different profile, the design is very close to original, and the rubber is new. If I'm planning on driving it, I won't be mounting 45 year old tires on it anytime soon.

[JRC99]

I see. In addition to those, they actually have the old style ones in N50s.

[markinnaples]

Pro Trac always had the best ads
http://www.stanceiseverything.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/vintage_ad_5.jpg